Roadshow Video Reviews

2007 LA Auto Show roundup

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>> The LA Auto Show. It used to be a footnote on the car show circuit, but in November of 2006, it reinvented itself as a major show. Complete with numerous world premiums and some more modest but still interesting debuts that we round up here.
>> Here's the new Saturn Vue. This one has been borrowed from the Opal Division of GM Europe. You can see it's got a real dialed in European look. Taking Saturn upscale as many of their cars are now. Also taking the Vue upscale, we spotted an LCD in the stack. You wouldn't have seen that before. Saturn also rolled out the Aura in Green Line trim. That's a hybrid and GM's unique dual mode hybrid. Now Buick stated goal of becoming the American Lexus brings us the Buick Enclave. A big cross over that got a lot of headlines here at the LA Show. They say it competes with the Mercedes R class, that I can see and the Lexus RX, that I can't. This thing would run over an RX and you wouldn't even feel it. It's a big vehicle, about as big as you can go with a cross over model of adapting a car to a something UV. Could this be Nissan's best looking car? It's an Ultima, Ultima coupe, just rolled out here at the LA Auto Show. Going to be available with a 3 and a half V6 as the big engine and transmission choices with include a CVT or a six speed manual. Just gorgeous. One of the best cars I ever had was a Sentra SER, of the first generation. Well now, Nissan's brought the SER back on the new Sentra. Still has the frumpy body work, can't do much about that. But what matters is the interior has been spiced up. The seats are pretty cool. The engine is the most important part, 2 and a half liter four, 200 horse, 180 foot pounds and firmer suspension all around.
>> Ford was giving test drives in an experimental hydrogen fuel cell Explorer. It has electric all wheel drive with the juice being generated of course from a hydrogen supply. The hydrogen tank lives where the six speed automatic would be in a gas powered Explorer. So this vehicle doesn't give up any practicality, except that finding a fill up would lead you to a place like this. It has a 350 mile range per fill up and that is currently the distance record holder for a fuel cell car. With its new November slot on the calendar, the LA Auto Show promises to be a very interesting warm up to each January's Detroit show and those two are going to battle for supremacy on the American Car Show scene.
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